Easter eggs: The glowing eyes when Elle goes into combat mode is a nice touch. Now I want to see that in future Blade Runner games. The Coca Cola advertisements in the background of the alley ambush scene were cool. The Offworld Colony advertisement being identified as funded by the Planetary Development Organization is interesting.

I pretty much agree with your thoughts. I think the first two episodes were pretty solid, and while I'm not the biggest fan of the art style (I'm not nearly as bothered by it as some are, though), there definitely isn't a lack of detail. The artists definitely did their homework with this one. And the score is pretty good.

I admit I did chuckle when Elle left the sword in Doc's shop after fighting the gang, since one of the main things people complained about pre-release was the sword. But I wouldn't be surprised if she grabs it again at some point.

Honestly, I think this is going to be on par with BR2019 and 2029 (I like Origins, but not as much) in the end, even if just for expanding the universe. I like that we've already got direct connections to 2049 in Doc Badger and Wallace Jr. and we already know there will be a direct connection to 2029 since Marlowe, who was just introduced last issue, is supposed to be in this. I'm not sure we'll get any characters from the original because of the timeline, unless they're keeping a Gaff or Bryant cameo under wraps.

But yeah, I dig it and can't wait to see where it ends up.

Another thing I noticed now is that Doc Badger was speaking in Somali the whole time in BR 2049 while in Black Lotus he was speaking mostly English with a little Somali phrases in between (the captions identify it as such). Maybe some Cityspeak too?. Although maybe I'm making too much of a presumption here since some could claim that the Japanese Dub is the canon version of Black Lotus.

Yeah, I noticed that too. I just figure they must have decided to have him speak English here since his role is more substantial, and avoid having to suspend any disbelief that Elle and Joseph (and whoever else might come along) understand Somali.

As for the Bradbury, I'm not sure... might be safe to say on the Bradbury article that it might still be located there as of 2049.

I was gonna comment that Niander Wallace Jr. looks like he's carrying Asian features in the anime. But now that I heard about David Bowie originally being in Villeneuve's mind for the role shortly before his death, I think that's where the anime's quirks seem to come from. He does have those Bowie features now in 2032, imo.

I presume we can note down the slight retcon to the Wallace Corporation background, right? Back when the Road to 2049 thing was out, we assumed there was only one Niander Wallace who carried out everything including the company's creation, but now it seems some of those attributions can be shifted to Senior and it remains to be seen how much the division of labor can be divided, beyond what's already been clarified in all the material.

Yeah, the few Road to 2049 things I've come across while editing the last few days I've mostly changed to the corporation itself, at least until it becomes more clear exactly how much power Junior has at this point in time.

Overall, I liked it. There is some amazing looking locations/backgrounds/shots. There is a great core of an idea for the story. I just wish the characters had texture to their skin and that they didn't make Wallace's dad the founder of Wallace Corp (or give him that haircut). I see Wallace as someone who came from far less and developed a god complex precisely because of that (given his achievements).